Sunday, July 29, 2012

The Cup Of Christ

There’s a whole lot more that God wants for us , but somehow it’s gotten lost in our ways. This is why we’re here. We’re on this journey together, even though God has a different plan for each of us, we journey. And somehow we need to get back the hearts God gave us.

The reason most people fail in their daily walk is simple, we ignore what should be deepest and truest to our heart, our relationship with Jesus Christ. We end up trying to produce external changes , through emotional experiences, or through feel good books, instead of doing what is required of us.

John 14:10 "Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father in Me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on My own authority; but the Father who dwells in Me does the works. 11 "Believe Me that I am in the Father and the Father in Me, or else believe Me for the sake of the works themselves. 12 "Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do, because I go to My Father. 13- "And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. 14 "If you ask anything in My name, I will do it. 15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments.

If we believe that Jesus is God, and He and the Father are one, then we need to obey Him. Which requires of us to live differently than the world, to live as if we have God within us, a living tabernacle is what we are.


We are called to live a life different from the world, to drink out of a cup, that few get to drink of. We are called to fight the good fight. Remember Jesus said this , in John 15:16 "You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit, and that your fruit should remain, that whatever you ask the Father in My name He may give you.

We are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, appointed for this moment in time. Arise and fulfill your purpose, don’t set back and become like the world, live bravely, live freely, live as if you know what tomorrow holds, for we know the one who holds tomorrow and should not fear what it has in store for us.

God tells us this , in Micah 6:8 b “ And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? “

1Corinthians 16:13 Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. 14 Let all that you do be done with love.

1Timothy 6:10 For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil, for which some have strayed from the faith in their greediness, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. 11 But you, O man of God, flee these things and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, gentleness. 12 Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, to which you were also called and have confessed the good confession in the presence of many witnesses.


Ask yourself do you love Mercy? We should it has been shown to us among all people, do we walk humbly with God? Or do we walk in front of God? Do we watch the way we live, are we brave, strong, ? Do we live all of life out of love? Do we pursue righteousness, godliness, ? Or do we pursue our own self centeredness?

The Lord requires of us to lives as we are called, to whom much is given much is required, just like the Old Testament patriarchs, and the Apostles we are called to drink from a cup, with Christ.

Luke 12:47 "And that servant who knew his master's will, and did not prepare himself or do according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes. 48 "But he who did not know, yet committed things deserving of stripes, shall be beaten with few. For everyone to whom much is given, from him much will be required; and to whom much has been committed, of him they will ask the more.


Remember Indiana Jones going after the Holy Grail the cup Christ drank out of,? That is what the world wants, but without Christ. They want the blessings from the cup, but not the life of obedience we are called to. We need to be the opposite , we need to be like Christ, with Christ, that is what made David a man after God’s own heart and that is what separates us from the world.

Luke 22:14 When the hour had come, He sat down, and the twelve apostles with Him. 15 Then He said to them, "With fervent desire I have desired to eat this Passover with you before I suffer; 16 "for I say to you, I will no longer eat of it until it is fulfilled in the kingdom of God." 17- Then He took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, "Take this and divide it among yourselves; 18 "for I say to you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine until the kingdom of God comes." 19- And He took bread, gave thanks and broke it, and gave it to them, saying, "This is My body which is given for you; do this in remembrance of Me." 20 Likewise He also took the cup after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in My blood, which is shed for you.


In a traditional Jewish Passover feast, there are four cups used. The first is the cup of sanctification, which recalls God calling His people to Himself and delivering them out of slavery. The second is the cup of plagues or judgment, reminding God’s people of the ten plagues in Egypt. The third is the cup of redemption and blessing. The fourth is the cup of praise and God’s kingdom.

The third cup, is the cup that Jesus shared with His disciples. This is the cup that Jesus also pleaded with His Father to take from Him in the garden, but drank it out of obedience. Matthew 26:39“My Father, let this cup pass from me! Yet not what I will, but what you will”.

As disciples of Jesus we all drink of the cup of redemption, for we are redeemed by the blood of the lamb, just as the Apostles, drank this cup when they went out from Jerusalem to the ends of the world obeying the Great Commission.

It is this cup of remembrance, the communion cup observing Jesus’ sacrifice. This cup also bears the name the cup of obedience , for we must be doing our Father’s will, whatever the cost. No exceptions, this is character and integrity displayed by God’s chosen throughout biblical history.

Not to many , are obeying our Lord and Savior’s Great Commission, we don’t want to drink from the cup God has given us, that is why Divorce is rampant in the church, that is why Idolatry is rampant, that is why programs fail, and people leave, not to many are willing to , forsake money, status, or a lucrative career, to join the Sainthood of Christian men and women.

We are Saints after all, men and women who are linked throughout biblical history by a common thread. The blood of Jesus Christ, before the cross they looked to the coming Christ and put their faith in what God told them, and after the cross we look back to that moment when Jesus Christ cried out It is Finished, and gave up His Spirit, and died. Only to rise again on the third day, and be seated at the right hand of God.

Every one of them and us have come to the point where pure faith and total trust in God have collided with our broken and hopeless spirits, we have had to lay down our own selfish ways for His cause, His truths, and His will. It is this Sainthood to which we are called to be protectors and defenders of the Body of Christ. It is Sainthood we enter at the point of salvation and when we spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, it is this Sainthood we are to live our lives.

Each soul has it’s own story just as the Saints of old each of us have started as cowards, connivers, thieves, liars, and murderers.

We think of the Old Testament as a time far from here, from an unreachable era in history. Even though it did take place in a different time, the impossible challenges that Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Caleb, Esther. ,Ruth, Elijah, Daniel, faced and we still face now. Even when Jesus ministered and the early church grew things may have been different culturally, but every situation, everything they faced where the same hurdles we must overcome, the forces of deceit, cruelty, heartlessness, and evil are still the same forces on the earth today.

But even greater than this Jesus is the same, yesterday, today and forever, and He says to take heart for He has overcome the things of the world, and that means as His, we can overcome them when we put our complete faith and trust in Him.

 

Hebrews 13:8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

John 16:33 "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world."


Hebrews 13:5 Let your conduct be without covetousness; be content with such things as you have. For He Himself has said, "I will never leave you nor forsake you."


In each and every case, we Saints that drink this cup, risk losing our lives and spilling our blood out of obedience and integrity.

And just like the saints of old, we cannot take our faith for granted, or ever get comfortable thriving in God’s grace,. We are called into Sainthood, as The Bride of Christ, His holy church.

We are going to be under relentless attacks more each day for each day brings us closer to the end of days.

Children of God are being led astray in worshipping the golden calves of our day. Anti-christs are everywhere.

No place is exempt, and no one is exempt from these attacks, our homes, our schools are being infected, our children , we are standing against the world’s and all it offers spiritually, culturally, and vicariously.



We have to live boldly and effectively as we witness for Christ. We can stand firm against the tides of change, and face today’s version of the philistine’s , baal worshippers, and evil rulers.

We need to stand strong in the protection of our families. Defend the purity of Christ’s church. And be obedient to Jesus Christ among all else.

When Jesus was referring to John and James the sons of Zebedee when they asked to sit in glory at His right and left. Jesus told them in Mark 10:38-39“You don’t know what you are asking. Are you able to drink the cup I drink or be baptized with the baptized with ? They said to Him, "We are able." So Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized;

All of us will drink the cup that God has place on our tables before us the cup of redemption and blessing, but in that cup is the drink of obedience,sacrifice and servant hood. When we drink of this cup there is no turning back, it is the cup of eternal life

 

1Peter 5:6 NKJV - Therefore humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, 7 - casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. 8- Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. - Resist him, steadfast in the faith, knowing that the same sufferings are experienced by your brotherhood in the world. 10 But may the God of all grace, who called us to His eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a while, perfect, establish, strengthen, and settle you. 11- To Him be the glory and the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17

In Christ

brian

Thursday, July 12, 2012

God is not gray

The world we live in seems to be filled with gray matter. Truth is out of reach of most people, because they refuse to acknowledge it. People say that it’s to hard to be good, and I am not as bad as most people. As a matter of fact, most people say that they are better than anyone around them, making themselves the lights in a dark world based upon their own morality.

Justification of ones own acts ,or life is something that continues to go on based on their ideas of good and bad, because we all have our opinion of what good and bad truly are, after all we are all human right? But God has a different opinion, He says that He is the light. And as His children we are commanded to walk in the light. God is not gray, God is not black, God is light.

1John 1:5 This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. 6 If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. 8 If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. 9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. 10 If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us.

These words are not an easy task for us to undertake, and on our own we will not, but if we trust in Jesus Christ we will. We know when we do wrong, the Holy Spirit is always communicating to us and teaching us, we just don’t choose to listen to Him. But that is why John included verse 9, God is faithful He will forgive us, but we must be repentant, not just oh I’m sorry, we must hate our sin.

John 14:15 "If you love Me, keep My commandments. 16 "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever--17 "the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. 18 "I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. 19 "A little while longer and the world will see Me no more, but you will see Me. Because I live, you will live also. 20 "At that day you will know that I am in My Father, and you in Me, and I in you. 21 "He who has My commandments and keeps them, it is he who loves Me. And he who loves Me will be loved by My Father, and I will love him and manifest Myself to him." 22 Judas (not Iscariot) said to Him, "Lord, how is it that You will manifest Yourself to us, and not to the world?" 23 Jesus answered and said to him, "If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him. 24"He who does not love Me does not keep My words; and the word which you hear is not Mine but the Father's who sent Me. 25 "These things I have spoken to you while being present with you. 26 "But the Helper, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in My name, He will teach you all things, and bring to your remembrance all things that I said to you. 27 "Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.

So many people want a god of their own making, because the gray area is really a greater place to live in. When Jesus said to keep His commandments, to Obey Him, people shy away, because it is easier to live our lives without thinking about consequences. But again God says that there is know gray area for His children.

Matthew 12:30 "He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad. 31 "Therefore I say to you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven men, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven men. 32 "Anyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man, it will be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it will not be forgiven him, either in this age or in the age to come. 33- "Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. 34"Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.35"A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. 36 "But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. 37 For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."

I hope you really read the word of God, and to what Jesus is saying, we are held accountable on the day of judgment, think about that before you say something out of hate, or anger without repenting, think about what Jesus says, about if your not with Him, then your against Him, again no gray area, God is a God of light. We try to serve two masters, one is the system of the world and all it offers, and the other id God, we can not serve both.

Luke 16:11 "Therefore if you have not been faithful in the unrighteous mammon, who will commit to your trust the true riches? 12- "And if you have not been faithful in what is another man's, who will give you what is your own? 13 "No servant can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or else he will be loyal to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon." 14 Now the Pharisees, who were lovers of money, also heard all these things, and they derided Him. 15 And He said to them, "You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God.

Jesus says again here do not justify yourself, before men. God knows our hearts, and our hearts or flesh wars against the Spirit. Again there is no gray in the kingdom of God, we must learn to walk in His light and keeps His commandments. Obedience is our act of love back to Christ, not that works saves us, but faith without works is dead according to God’s word.

Ephesians 5:1 Therefore be imitators of God as dear children. 2 And walk in love, as Christ also has loved us and given Himself for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God for a sweet-smelling aroma. 3 But fornication and all uncleanness or covetousness, let it not even be named among you, as is fitting for saints; 4 neither filthiness, nor foolish talking, nor coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. 5- For this you know, that no fornicator, unclean person, nor covetous man, who is an idolater, has any inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God. 6- Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. 7 Therefore do not be partakers with them. 8- For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light 9 (for the fruit of the Spirit is in all goodness, righteousness, and truth), 10 finding out what is acceptable to the Lord. 11 And have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For it is shameful even to speak of those things which are done by them in secret.

Here we are told not to partake of darkness, for we once where I it, we know what it is, but now we are light in the Lord , and need to walk as children of light. If we are honest, just review the events of the day, how much light did we shine today, did we serve a gray god today, or the God of light?

Exodus 20:4 "You shall not make for yourself a carved image--any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; 5- you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, 6 but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My commandments.

God told us in the 10 Commandments not to make a god for ourselves, that means any gray god whom we would choose, today we can submit to the god of choice, for marriage or abortion, tomorrow we will submit to the god of thievery, the next day the god of adultery, the next the god of hate, the next the god of whatever needs we have. It is a slippery slope we slide on once we bow our knees to these gray gods. We can’t make gods to suit ourselves, we will have to face Jesus Christ one day, and he knows what it is like to live on this earth.

John 1:1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was in the beginning with God. 3 All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. 4- In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. 5- And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.

We as children of God, must comprehend the light, the light of this world is Jesus Christ, He is the way, the truth and the life, and we must live our lives as He has told us, we can not go around bearing false witness, serving grays gods. We must serve Him, and Him alone.

1John 1:7 But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.

As children of God we have lived to long in the gray, we need to come to the light, live in the light, and fellowship in the Light. And we can no longer have fellowship with the darkness. Again there is no gray area in God’s kingdom, our God is light.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17
In Christ
brian

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

God's word not ,mans.

America’s heart has strayed far from God. We have bowed down to the gods of death through the abortion industry, the gods of sex trough the homosexual agenda, the gods of money through our nation’s compulsive habit to borrow money, and the many idols of gods through the entertainment industry, I could name more but any one of these is sickening on it’s own, and every child of God should be appalled at what is happening, we have walked away from the very principals of God’s word.

I know that we are not Israel, and that we in no way replace them, but God’s word is applied to all His children, in my opinion because Paul says there is no difference between Jew and Greek, and we are all Spiritual descendents of Abraham.

God said this to the Jewish people after Joshua died, Judges 2:10 When all that generation had been gathered to their fathers, another generation arose after them who did not know the LORD nor the work which He had done for Israel. 11 Then the children of Israel did evil in the sight of the LORD, and served the Baals; 12 and they forsook the LORD God of their fathers, who had brought them out of the land of Egypt; and they followed other gods from among the gods of the people who were all around them, and they bowed down to them; and they provoked the LORD to anger. 13- They forsook the LORD and served Baal and the Ashtoreths. 14- And the anger of the LORD was hot against Israel. So He delivered them into the hands of plunderers who despoiled them; and He sold them into the hands of their enemies all around, so that they could no longer stand before their enemies. 15 Wherever they went out, the hand of the LORD was against them for calamity, as the LORD had said, and as the LORD had sworn to them. And they were greatly distressed. 16 Nevertheless, the LORD raised up judges who delivered them out of the hand of those who plundered them. 17 Yet they would not listen to their judges, but they played the harlot with other gods, and bowed down to them. They turned quickly from the way in which their fathers walked, in obeying the commandments of the LORD; they did not do so.

Israel was defeated and handed over to the enemy because of their rebellion, but God delivered them and set judges over them, and after the Judge died they returned to their evil ways, and God judges them again, until eventually, God turns them over to themselves, and they destroy one another and are scattered all over the world.

In our nation, Christians have strayed far from what God says. We have lost touch with God because we have watered down the word of God. The church has anointed liberal preachers, that one day will stand before God, but even more than that those who listen and accept these liberal teachers will be held accountable before God, because they have the Word of God available to them.

1Timothy 4:1 Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons, 2 speaking lies in hypocrisy, having their own conscience seared with a hot iron, 3- forbidding to marry, and commanding to abstain from foods which God created to be received with thanksgiving by those who believe and know the truth. 4 For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving; 5 for it is sanctified by the word of God and prayer. 6 If you instruct the brethren in these things, you will be a good minister of Jesus Christ, nourished in the words of faith and of the good doctrine which you have carefully followed. 7- But reject profane and old wives' fables, and exercise yourself toward godliness. 8 For bodily exercise profits a little, but godliness is profitable for all things, having promise of the life that now is and of that which is to come. 9 This is a faithful saying and worthy of all acceptance.


People in the Church are being defeated and handed over to the enemy through the pulpits of our Churches. Some are possessed by Satan, and they purposely twist the Word of God and lie to the people who sit and believe them just as Satan lied to Eve and she foolishly listened. The difference is that those of us who see this, must stop Eve or the body of the Church from eating this fruit. Verse 6 specifically states this .On the flip side some of theses Pastors teach without knowing that they are serving Satan. Either way we must stand up for the truth.

People are easily swayed when they are not in the word of God as they should be, and others are swayed when they think they are above these things. Jesus Christ is the only perfect one, let us never forget that.

2Peter 2:1 But there were also false prophets among the people, even as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive heresies, even denying the Lord who bought them, and bring on themselves swift destruction. 2 And many will follow their destructive ways, because of whom the way of truth will be blasphemed. 3- By covetousness they will exploit you with deceptive words; for a long time their judgment has not been idle, and their destruction does not slumber. 4 For if God did not spare the angels who sinned, but cast them down to hell and delivered them into chains of darkness, to be reserved for judgment; 5- and did not spare the ancient world, but saved Noah, one of eight people, a preacher of righteousness, bringing in the flood on the world of the ungodly; 6- and turning the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah into ashes, condemned them to destruction, making them an example to those who afterward would live ungodly; 7 - and delivered righteous Lot, who was oppressed by the filthy conduct of the wicked 8 (for that righteous man, dwelling among them, tormented his righteous soul from day to day by seeing and hearing their lawless deeds)--9- then the Lord knows how to deliver the godly out of temptations and to reserve the unjust under punishment for the day of judgment, 10 and especially those who walk according to the flesh in the lust of uncleanness and despise authority. They are presumptuous, self-willed. They are not afraid to speak evil of dignitaries, 11 whereas angels, who are greater in power and might, do not bring a reviling accusation against them before the Lord. 12 But these, like natural brute beasts made to be caught and destroyed, speak evil of the things they do not understand, and will utterly perish in their own corruption, 13 and will receive the wages of unrighteousness, as those who count it pleasure to carouse in the daytime. They are spots and blemishes, carousing in their own deceptions while they feast with you, 14 having eyes full of adultery and that cannot cease from sin, enticing unstable souls. They have a heart trained in covetous practices, and are accursed children. 15 They have forsaken the right way and gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Beor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness; 16 but he was rebuked for his iniquity: a dumb donkey speaking with a man's voice restrained the madness of the prophet. 17 These are wells without water, clouds carried by a tempest, for whom is reserved the blackness of darkness forever. 18 For when they speak great swelling words of emptiness, they allure through the lusts of the flesh, through lewdness, the ones who have actually escaped from those who live in error. 19 While they promise them liberty, they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by whom a person is overcome, by him also he is brought into bondage. 20 For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning. 21 For it would have been better for them not to have known the way of righteousness, than having known it, to turn from the holy commandment delivered to them. 22 But it has happened to them according to the true proverb: "A dog returns to his own vomit," and, "a sow, having washed, to her wallowing in the mire."

God’s word not mine is what is important, warning after warning is spoken throughout the word of God. Judgment comes to the children of God, when they rebel against Him, God is longsuffering when it comes to His children, He raises up judges to set over His children, and rule. And His children still rebel, after each judge leaves we have seen this in our Nation, not only with Political leaders, but also with Judges in our courts, and Preachers on a national stage.

It is time that We The Body of Christ, come together, warn our brothers and sisters, and teach strictly the word of God. We are the watchmen God has appointed for this time, we are to blow the trumpet of warning and teach the truth. If people deny God after that it is upon them, and them alone.

Ezekiel 33:1 Again the word of the LORD came to me, saying, 2 "Son of man, speak to the children of your people, and say to them: 'When I bring the sword upon a land, and the people of the land take a man from their territory and make him their watchman, 3 When he sees the sword coming upon the land, if he blows the trumpet and warns the people, 4 'then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be on his own head. 5 'He heard the sound of the trumpet, but did not take warning; his blood shall be upon himself. But he who takes warning will save his life. 6 'But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet, and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand.' 7 "So you, son of man: I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel; therefore you shall hear a word from My mouth and warn them for Me.8 When I say to the wicked, 'O wicked man, you shall surely die!' and you do not speak to warn the wicked from his way, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. 9 "Nevertheless if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17
In Christ
brian

Sunday, July 8, 2012

Where is your Hope?

There is a common ground on which all walk, that is life itself. From conception to the end, life’s paths are a constant act of perpetual motion. We may seem like and say we go three steps forward and two steps back, but we are in a forward motion, heading towards end times. Ours or The End of Time, we do not know.

I stood at a brother’s showing today, I watch people, and take mental notes on how they act and move about, and carry themselves in general. Not for judgmental purposes, but I like observing how people are, I do like studying the human condition.

My friend and brother took a path I don’t understand, but God does He took his life, left behind young children, a Dad and Mom, that loved him, along with the rest of his family. The parking lot was full, the guest register was filling up fast and people huddled together to watch pictures of his life. His mom said, that he always told her he had no friends.

But there they where, coming to give condolences, reminisce about the good times.

Christians and Non-Christians that would talk about their friendship with him. He was a young man, who fought with demons from mistakes, mistakes we all make. But he could not shake them, they dogged him and eventually won the battle for his mind, but they lost the war for his soul. He had given his life just recently to the Lord, and was searching for answers, answers that only God could give him, and hope only God could give him, some answers God allowed us to share, and we got to see the heart of a child beating in a young man.

Life is to short as it is, it seems to end so quickly. Our decisions we make have huge impacts, we can’t think our decisions won’t effect others. Every decisions will effect someone. Some of those eternally, we need to make the right choices daily. As I looked at his friends, I say in their faces, a lack of hope, a despair that is seen in the eyes of a lost world, no future, just gloom and doom because they have no hope for what the future holds. But we do, our hope is in Christ. He is foolishness to them.

1st Thessalonians 4:13-18 But I do not want you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep, lest you sorrow as others who have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with Him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord, that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. Therefore comfort one another with these words.

The world does not have a promise of our tomorrow. The world cry’s out love you brotha, but does that mean anything to someone who does not know what love is? The world cry’s out this one for you man, he would have enjoyed that. Because the world has no point of separation from our old selves, when we choose to stay where we are, We need to live that hope, our hearts should cry out and share this hope. We Do have that hope, His name is Jesus Christ. We need to introduce Him to everyone we meet, in the way we live our lives.

Romans 12:1-5 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith. For as we have many members in one body, but all the members do not have the same function, so we, being many, are one body in Christ, and individually members of one another.

God’s word is filled with broken men, and women who have struggles. Struggles that some of us may never know, but struggles that others know very well. But are all known to God. We face some of these by choice, because of our lack of belief, or faith in Christ and the Word of God. We face others because they are consequences for our choices.

We all have doubts, worries, concerns, thoughts, anxieties, lost dreams, crushed hope, etc but life is not about making easy choices. Life for men and women of God is a long line of bumps, bruises and blood. We might as well get used to that now, and expect life to keep coming at us, whether we are up or down.

To the men and women of God I ask this, what in the world is more important to you than Jesus Christ,? nothing or no one should be. What can be next in line, your family, your spouse, your children, their needs? Then others, then yourself. If we use this formula for everyday living, life gets a little bit easier to handle, because we Love Jesus Christ, and that means that we are obedient to Him, and all He says and does. That is what is required of us.

If our hope is in ourselves, if our faith is no more than words that leave our lips, if we do not participate now in the world we live in, then is that hope in us? Is Jesus Christ our hope, our joy our everything? Do we trust Him, call upon Him, follow Him?

Hebrews 10:23-25 , 31-39 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But recall the former days in which, after you were illuminated, you endured a great struggle with sufferings: partly while you were made a spectacle both by reproaches and tribulations, and partly while you became companions of those who were so treated; for you had compassion on me in my chains, and joyfully accepted the plundering of your goods, knowing that you have a better and an enduring possession for yourselves in heaven. Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: "For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him." But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.

My friends life is over, his choice was final, so was his decision to ask Christ in his life. I do not condone what he did, I hate what he did, and the way it has impacted his family already, but I have a hope that Jesus Christ's arms will reach out hopefully through the years to come to everyone who attends his funeral, he will have a funeral where the word of God is taught, the hope and love that Christ gives us, I pray every time someone remembers my friend, that the name of Jesus Christ be burned into their heart, that they can not have a thought or memory that is not filled with the message of the cross.

If life is getting at you, stop and fall to your knees, call upon the one who made you, ask Him for His forgiveness, His mercy, His grace, He alone is our hope, the hope for all mankind. He is like no other, and once you meet Him, your life will never be the same. His name is Jesus Christ, and without Him alone, you can have no hope.

And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him. Colossians 3:17

In Christ
brian